Crafting Forever

I'm back!  It's summer time and I've been super busy!  Most of today was spent getting ready for my bridge group tomorrow.  I have 12 gals coming in the morning for a day of bridge.  I made a quinoa salad (that Sonny turned his nose up on!), a watermelon and blackberry salad, and some Pumpkin Chocolate cups (a new recipe I wanted to try.) 

Yesterday Marianne and I went to Allison's Stampaganza and made a bunch of different boxes.  I have a box for every occasion now.  I'll be sharing them later.  We also did some swap cards and I got a lot of new ideas for some of the new stamps in the catalog.  I want to share my cards with you today.  

This first one was pretty labor intensive.  Luckily I only had to make 6 cards to swap - it's not one that you'd want to make a bunch of!!  I found an apron template on line and used it to make this cute card using Crafting Forever.  The labor intensive part was in cutting out the pens, paintbrushes and scissors!!  I stamped them all in black and used markers to color them.  

I used all the new in colors to make the cards.

My second card also uses Crafting Forever.  It has a surprise inside!

Do you remember making paper dolls when you were little?  I loved them!  So this took me back to my childhood.  They are attached to the inside with a glue dot under the hand of the doll on the right and the one on the left.  No adhesive in the middle.

For these cards, I used the DSP from the Color Theory stack.

Sale-a-bration & Occasions Swaps

Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone and the team I was rooting for did not win.  In fact, not even sure they showed up for the game!  What a disappointment.  But I am happy for Peyton Manning (Denver QB) that he is going to retire (we think) with a Super Bowl win.  Always good to go out a winner!  I am really sick of hearing about all the hype about Cam Newton.  It is time to go on to other topics!!

A bit of news from Stampin' Up:  The Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item 139673) has been so popular that we are going to do something that we don't normally do: we've decided to bring it back in the 2016 annual catalog! It will be available in the new Upcoming catalog this June. 

This is the final week for a few items from Sale-a-Bration - like this one - Sky Is The Limit.  This has been a very popular set.  If you want it, it will only be available until Feb. 15!  With a $50 order, you can get this set for FREE!

The SAB sets will be replaced with some great items.  Check them out HERE.


This next set (Flowering Fields) has also been a popular item and one of my fav's.  I like to put all the stamps on a large clear block and stamp them all at the same time.  Sure makes things easier!

These next swap cards are from (top) Botanicals For You and (bottom) Hello.  The Hello set will also be retiring Feb. 15.

This set is from the Occasions catalog and perfect for your special Valentine!  You can find these items on pages 16-17.

Here are more swap samples that come from the Occasions Swap at Quarterly.

I hope these cards have inspired you today!

Swap Cards

I can't believe I have only posted one update on my blog this week!  I have been busy trying to get all my swaps ready for the NC Quarterly in Wilmington.  Got 'em ready but ..... Quarterly has been canceled!  Mother Nature has a hurricane party planned for Wilmington instead.  Not so sure whether Joaquin will actually hit Wimington but they are calling for a LOT of rain all weekend.  The gals planning the Quarterly didn't want to take any chances.  I really feel for them as a lot of work goes into planning a Quarterly and then having to cancel at the last minute.  But, they are going to reschedule and hopefully, it will be a weekend that will work for both myself and Marianne. 

In the meantime, thought I'd share a few more of the swap cards I received from the Holiday catalog.

Reason for the Season

We had a fun weekend despite the fact that it rained all weekend, but we really need the rain so I am not complaining!.  We went out with friends to American Ale House in Hickory on Saturday night and of course on Sunday went to Big Al's to watch the Steelers game with friends.  It was an ugly game but we came away with a win.  The bad thing is Big Ben (our quarterback) was carted off with an injury to his leg.  Looks like he might be out 3-4 weeks ... not good!

I have a few other swaps to share with you to give you some ideas for your own card making.  These cards all use the Reason for the Season stamp with the Fancy Flower punch.  These come as a bundle.

Delicate Ornaments

I have been working fast and furious on my swaps for Quarterly.  I have a little over a week to get them all done!  I signed up for: 3x3 card (11), full card (25), 3D project (15), tags (16) and the shoebox card (31)!  Plus someone had to drop out this week & I volunteered to be a "swap angel" and do another 16 tags!  Right now, I have completed all except the 3D and the extra tag swap so I am doing ok.  

The Southern Living Group that is part of Newcomers is hosting a tea and fashion show next Wednesday.  I was honored to be asked to be one of the models.  I went for my fitting yesterday at Chicos.  I have never shopped at Chicos - mainly because of the price of their clothes but I also find their sizing system very confusing!  They don't size their clothes the standard way, like 10, 12, 14, etc. but instead they are size 0, 1, 2, 3!  Very confusing for an old person like me!  I was a bit leary that the clothes were going to be too "hip" and young for me but I was pleasantly surprised.  I ended up buying a pair of jeans even though I don't usually pay big bucks for jeans!  But they fit so well I couldn't resist.  Everything in the store was 40% off so the $90 jeans were just over $50 after tax.  I will be modeling them next week.    (Pictures to follow!)

OK - I have more swap cards to share.

I loved this card using the Delicate Ornaments Thinlet Die (pg 15)  It also uses the new Curvy Corner Trio punch,   The pictures below show the unique fold of this card.

Another great card using the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and Thinlets with the Season of Cheer DSP and another unique fold.  But .... can you spot the mistake on this one?

Just the center panel opens.  The sentiment is punched out with the new Washi Label Punch (from the main catalog.)

OK - the mistake that I see is the DSP on the left side is upside down!

Halloween and Fall Cards

Here are a few more of the swaps I've received highlighting cards from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

Tags & Labels Framelits

I love using thinlet dies and the Magnetic Platform makes it so easy!  This is a new die this year that has a lot of possibilities.  Check it out on page 173 - Tags & Labels Framelits.  You can do a lot of layering with these dies as you can see that I did below with Whisper White card stock.

In this card, I used a strip of DSP from Typeset Specialty Designer Paper which is really lightweight and a good deal since you get 24 sheets of paper in the pack for $13!  The card is Crumb Cake and I used the Gorgeous Grunge to spatter ink on the background.  The butterflies from Butterfly Basics were stamped with Blackberry Bliss, Mellow Moss and Night of Navy.  I punched a flower from the Itty BittyAccents Punch Pack and adhered a rhinestone in the center.  A very easy card to make.

Here are a few cards from convention that used these dies also:

This was one of the display boards - the sympathy card at the top right uses the framelit.

Isn't this gorgous?  This is the DSP found on page 143 called Timeless Elegance.  Unfortunately, looking at the DSP in the catalog, you would never know this beautiful piece is in it.  The creater used sponge dauber with pink ink to color the flower.  This DSP will be on my next order!

Sonny and I went out on the boat yesterday morning until shortly after lunch time.  It was miserably HOT and humid.  I think the humidity was the worse.  This has been the worse summer we have had since we moved back here for the heat and humidity.  Even getting in the lake was not enough to cool you off.  When we got home, I headed straight for a cold shower!

We got an email from Ashley yesterday as she is on her way to the Phillipines.  She said they have been doing a lot of busy work on the ship but the seas have not been too rough this time.  She has been teaching some of the medical staff the Helping Babies Breathe program so they can hopefully teach it on future missions.  They should be arriving in the Phillipines Sunday or Monday. Hopefully, she will have access to a phone there and will be able to call.  I am really missing our daily chats and am ready for her to come home!!

Card Candy Swaps

For the second year, I participated in a Card Candy swap headed up by Debbie McNeil and Amy Barnes.  In this swap, you make 2x2 card candy swaps using the new In Colors and/or Neutrals and current stamps.  You can make as many as you want from 1-50.  You just drop out of line when you have swapped all you brought.  I took 40 and Marianne took 50.  I still have my swaps from last year but I am making a promise to myself to make a collage frame with them this year!!

Here are my swaps using the DSP from Go Wild stack and the Heart punch (Watermelon Wonder.) The sentiment is from And Many More stamped in Tip Top Taupe and I added a rhinestone.

While I was at convention, I got an email from my good friend, Margaret, that her dad had died on Friday.  He has been doing poorly for a while so it was not totally unexpected but he was such a great guy, he will be missed by many.  Margaret and Graham had been there for a visit in April but when he went back in the hospital in early July, Margaret flew back to England so she was there when he passed away.  I'm thinking about you, Margaret!

As you can see, I did some maintenance on my blog today.  I have been wanting to change the blog header for a while and got some ideas while I was at convention.  Here is what the main stage looked like.  As you can see, I used it for my inspiration.

Below is one of the perks I received for celebrating my 10 years with Stampin' Up.  This was a booth set up with a soda fountain, popcorn and Dove chocolates!  Marianne and I made frequent stops here. I also received a Stampin' Up mini trash bag filled with a stamp set (one I already had), a package of buttons and twine.

We took this picture on our last day.  We looked for Debbie and my upline, Carol, to include them in the third window but could not find them at the time.

Roarin' 20s plus a Wild! Swap

There’s nothing more exciting than gathering with a couple thousand of your favorite people to celebrate the joys of card making, rejoice in our successes from the past year and plan for the future.  This past week’s Stampin’ Up! Annual Convention (called Inspire Create Share 2015) was just that – a lot of reuniting, a lot of celebrating and a lot of new stuff.  What a fun week!  But if I am totally honest, this was not the best Stampin' Up Convention I have attended (I have been to 5 total.)  We have always gotten at least 3 free stamp sets plus other "all attendee" give aways during the week.  This year, we received 1 stamp set and 3 all attendee gifts which did not amount to much (package of Holiday Catalogs, the new archival black stamp pad and a package of DSP.)  I really felt short changed this year.  Things were so very different than past years in many other ways too.

We all love to see new products and hear about new techniques for our businesses.   We love papercrafting and sharing wonderful ideas for new projects.  Still, at the heart of it all, Convention is all about the people.  I love the opportunity to gather with stampers from all over the U.S. and Canada as well as the members of Stampin' Up's staff.  What fun!

Thursday night was Awards Night and there was a party afterwards.  Awards Night was themed this year – we were challenged to dress in “The Roaring ’20’s” outfits.  Marianne and I turned out in our feather boas and jeweled headbands in our hair!  We found Debbie who looked great in her black and white 20s outfit too.

Here is one of the swap  cards I made.  I'll be sharing more swaps in the next several days.  This card was super easy to make using the Little Letters thinlets and the Go Wild DSP stack.

Fly Away Like a Butterfly!

This has been a week of doctor's appointments and taking care of my mom.  She has not had a good week.  I may do like these butterflies in this card and just fly away!!

This is another swap card that I have made for convention.  I used the Watercolor Background stamp for the background (Pool Party stamped off) and then just die cut 3 butterflies from the Butterfly Framelits and adhered them to the center of the Whisper White cardstock.  The corners are rounded and the white card is adhered to a Wisteria Wonder card.  I drew in the antenna with a black Sharpie marker and added a pearl to the center.  Quick and easy card.

Mom called me on Tuesday complaining of her ear hurting.  It was on the same side as her teeth that she is having extracted next week so I assumed they were all tied together.  I took her to the dentist and they gave her another prescription for an antibiotic.  Then yesterday she bent over to pick something up off the floor and pulled her back out again.  She has been going to the chiropractor now for a week and was feeling much better - even, quit taking pain pills last weekend.  So, I took her to chiropractor yesterday and he did a few adjustments.  He thinks she will probably need to have a cortisone shot.  But she is going back to see him this afternoon and he will decide then.  My sister just texted me that she had a rough night and was really hurting today.  I am headed over to pick her up this morning for her pre-op appointment at the hospital for her teeth extraction!  In the meantime, I realized yesterday that I had missed my doctors appointment that was scheduled for Tuesday!   Hoping things will calm down soon!

Ashley finally made it back to Pohnpei safely and went straight in to work.  She is having her phone interview today for the Pediatric Program Director at Madigan in Washington.  Keep your fingers crossed for her!  She is guessing they will make the decision in the next couple of weeks.  She feels like she is fighting an uphill battle since she is the only "outsider" applying for the position.  The other candidates are already at Madigan although that is where Ashley did her residency so she won't exactly be a newcomer.

Another Wetlands swap card

Here is another swap card I made using the Wetlands stamp set along with Feels Good.  Isn't that the truth .... the best thing in life aren't things .... but hugs, kisses, love, respect, .....

I think Ashley made it out of Chuuk finally today although she wasn't too hopeful when she got up this morning and messaged me.  She said it was still rainy there and stormy.  But the last time I talked to her, she was heading to the airport to meet the military plane that had just flown over to pick them up.  It is a 2 hour trip back and forth.  She is supposed to email me when they arrive safely.  I'm saying prayers for their safe return.  She has missed two days of teaching the Babies Breath class.  Luckily, there was someone back at Pohnpei that could teach for her.

I went to the Y today and took a stretch class.  It had been too long!  I love the stretch class on Mondays.  Unfortunately, I play bridge just about every Monday and can't go.  This was the 5th Monday of the month, so I did not have anything scheduled.  After exercising, then Sonny and I went to Pomodora's Italian and had pasta!  Probably not the best idea!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Stampin' Up's  BONUS DEALS!  You can save up to 30% on Weekly Deals or up to 60% on extra items in the Clearance Rack (while supplies last).  The Weekly Deals discounts are available in limited quantities before the items return to retail prices.  You can order ONLINE by clicking on the ORDER ONLINE button above.  When you are asked for a Hostess Code, enter ZTUM7QAT please.

Wetlands Swap

I am on a roll with my convention swaps.  I am not making a bunch of one design - too boring. Instead, I am pulling out stamp sets and finding some inspiration and making a card.  Then into my convention swap bucket it goes.  Here are a couple I made this weekend using Wetlands (one of my favorite sets.)

For the card on the top, I used the masking tape technique.  I took a strip of masking tape (get some of the sticky off first) and pat it into the ink pad (Soft Sky, Mint Macaron and Crumb Cake)  Then lay it onto your card and kind of pat it to get the ink off.  With the Mint Macaron, it was a little dark so I put it on a piece of paper first to get some of the ink off.  Then I stamped the oats on top with Tip Top Taupe and added a bit of glitter to them.  I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of white and punched it out with Oval Punch.  I punched a larger oval from Mint Macaron & backed it.  I wrapped the Bermuda Bay twine around 2-3 times before adhering the piece to the Soft Sky card.  I used dimensionals under the sentiment.

This card is very similar. But I didn't use masking tape this time.  I inked up the large background stamp, Watercolor Wash (pg 129) first with Soft Sky and stamped the top of a piece of Whisper White (5 1/4" x 4"); then I inked the background stamp with Tip Top Taupe (and after stamping off), I stamped the bottom of the white card - making sure it met up in the middle with the Soft Sky.  Then I stamped the oats in Mint Macaron on two sides and stamped the birds in the center with black ink.  I tore the top and bottom edges and had to sponge a bit more ink on the torn edges.  I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of white, sponged Soft Sky on it and made a flag on one end.  It is attached using dimensionals.  I attached the white torn piece to Mint Macaron and then to Chocolate Chip card.

I have been able to chat with Ashley this weekend via Facebook.  She has internet in her hotel in Chuuk.  She was supposed to fly back to Pohnpei on Sunday morning on the military plane but the weather was bad and the flight was canceled.  The plane only holds 7 people and it had already shuttled two groups back.  Ashley was scheduled for the final group and got canceled.  So she took advantage and had a massage.  I have just been chatting with her again and there is still bad weather and the plane is still in Pohnpei.  There was a United flight that her group tried to get on but when they got to the airport, there was only one seat left.  She put one of the junior officers on the plane and went back to the hotel.  She is hopeful that the military plane will still make it to pick them up later (it is Monday afternoon for her.)  The next commercial flight is Wednesday!  Hopefully, she won't be stuck that long.  They have turned in their rental cars so they are pretty well stuck in Chuuk!

Here is a gorgeous sunset picture she took this weekend.

Swap cards

Busy, busy!  I can't wait for Sonny to get better!  I'm getting worn out being a nursemaid, garbage gal, cook and bottle washer plus doing my own stuff!!   He is waiting now for the Physical Therapist to come.

I had a wonderful surprise early (6:30 am) Monday morning.  The phone rang and it was Ashley on the other end.  Luckily I don't sleep as soundly as Sonny - he never woke up even though I tried to get him to so he could talk to her.  She filled me in on what she had been doing in Kiribati and I filled her in on her dad's surgery.  She said she is seeing things over there that she has only read and seen in her text books.  This deployment was tailor-made for her!

Monday was super busy for me.  I went to bridge and afterwards, stopped at Five Guys and got him a hamburger; took it home to him and got my things together; then met Marianne back in Mooresville & we went to dinner, to the mall and did some crafting. I didn't get home till about 10. . I told Sonny when I left for bridge to answer the phone if anyone called, even if he didn't recognize the number (he is really bad about not answering the phone!)   About 2:00 I got a call on my cell from the PT that she had tried to call the house twice but no one answered!!  She was headed over to the house so I told her to go on - he was home.  When I got home, she had already come and gone.  He was in pretty good spirits - unlike Sunday which was his worst day, so far.  He actually called the nurse Monday morning about the swelling he was having.  She told him to elevate it on a step stool.  Seems like they should have told him that.  I know it is common sense but they make such a big deal about not getting your knees above your hips, that we wouldn't have done that.  She asked him when he was returning to the dr - when he told her this Thursday, she said that was too soon; that they usually didn't see you again for 2 weeks.  So, she called the dr. office & found out the dr is going out of town next week.  The PT looked at his leg & seemed to be ok with it.  He was mostly excited because the PT had him walk around our kitchen island without his walker - just holding on to the counter.  She is preparing him to use just his cane.  

Tuesday I met up with a gal who is in Mooresville for a couple of weeks visiting family. Barbara is a SU demo who lives in Florida.  Judy & I met her at Stampers Alley & then went to lunch at Pomadora's   Of course, when I got home I found out Sonny had gone upstairs by himself because he needed to use the bathroom (I have put a seat on the downstairs one but he didn't trust it's stability!)  We've started backing his pain meds down to every 5-6 hours and that seems to be working.  So hopefully by the weekend, he can just take Tylenot or something like that.  He wants to be able to go with the guys on Tuesday to the shooting range.  He won't be ready to shoot but he can ride around the cart with them and go to lunch.  Plus I'll be having Stamp Club and he doesn't want to be here!!

I participated in a swap recently and got some really nice samples to share with you.  We had to use products from the new catalog preview so there wasn't a big variety of stamps used.  But it was nice to see the different ways people used the stamps.  I've already shared the card I made HERE.

Karen Kunkle's card

Toni Campana's card

Kathryn Lovell's card

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